07-12-2004 CC MIN - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Minutes July 12, 2004 Page 5 Councilmember Motin stated that he would like to reconfigure the room to provide more of a roundtable discussion regarding the plan. He felt that there should be more discussion opportunities amongst the Council regarding the adoption of the Plan. Mayor Iadinzing stated that she was pleased with the Plan as it addresses full build-out of the community and this is a Plan that the city can work towards. She agreed with the observation that more commercial land needs to be designated in the Plan and looked to east Highway 10 in response to development activities in the City of Ramsey. Councilmember Tveite stated that this Plan is a framework and that it may need adjustments from time to time as conditions warrant. He stated that while not everything in the Plan is exactly what he would desire, it provides a foundation for future planning efforts. Councilmember Kuester stated that her concern is the lack of adequate land for commercial and industrial development. She stated her understanding was that the Plan projects a doubling of the population of the city and therefore she felt that the amount of available commercial and industrial land should also double. She stated that she felt that there should be more apartments and mixed use opportunities and felt that the most appropriate opportunity for this would be in the gravel mining area. Councilmember Kuester also stated that she would like to see additional commercial land designation on the east side of Highway 169, north of County Road 21. Councilmember Kuester stated that her concern with converting land north of CR33 to 2 1/2 acres from 10 acres is the need to complete the greenway plan as well as expanding or working towards transportation corridor improvements relating to future interchanges on Highway 169. Councilmember Kuester stated that she likes cluster developments and thinks they are appropriate. Mayor Iadinzing stated that cluster developments equal more transportation because of the fact that the density is higher. Councilmember Motin noted that the Building and Environmental Department does not like cluster septic systems and believes that due to a lack of monitoring and proper maintenance that they are failures waiting to happen. Councilmember Motin noted however, that he also likes cluster developments; they require installation of less infrastructure and preserve open space which leads to the country portion of "Where city and country flow together". Councilmember Motin reviewed the areas of commercial he ~vould like to see within the revised land use plan. He indicated that the areas that were removed from the current plan to the proposed plan should be put back and that the area direcdy adjacent to Highway 10 between 171~'t and 165th Avenues should be commercial with industrial to the east. The possibility of placing additional commercial development south of Cargill on both sides of Highway 10 was also discussed. The Council then discussed expanding the Urban Service District east of County Road 40. The consensus of the Council was that they were not interested in expanding the urban service district for additional residential growth, with the possible exception of mixed use in the long- term gravel mining plan. Councilmember Motin stated that he likes the buffer created by the 2 1/2 acre lot minimum district adjacent to the corporate boundaries of the city and the City of Ramsey and Burns Township. He stated, however, that if the school was unable to locate on land currently in the Urban Service District he could support expanding the district if necessary.